


Moon Boy, Moon Boy

by Amari



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 19:00:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2822708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amari/pseuds/Amari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day has come for Ray, the boy with the Moon on his chest, to give himself up to their god, Joeleus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moon Boy, Moon Boy

“Cheer up, Ray. This is a momentous occasion. This was the reason you were born, after all.” The elder woman known as Rotasha said as she gently scrubbed the young man’s back. The lad didn’t respond, his gaze cast in the blurring reflection of the tub he sat in. The water had been deemed holy, meant to scrub his body of all the dirt, physical, and spiritual. He had to be as clean as possible for the ritual, Ray had been told the past few days.

Rotasha slapped him on the back. He went razor straight and gasped with pain. “I told you to cheer up! Get your head out of the murk and join us in the real world.”

Ray tried to reach for the throbbing spot on his back. The old woman managed to get the spot right where he couldn’t touch. The woman doused him again with another bucket of water and began chanting an old language that the village hadn’t heard for a long time. As her wrinkly hands rubbed up and down his arms and neck, Ray began to feel something churn inside him. As if a knot had been loosened, he felt a warmth spread from behind his chest and into all the parts of his body. If you could be hugged from the inside-- that’s how it felt.

“Rotasha?” Ray barely squeaked, “I feel weird.”

Another woman had entered the purifying chamber; she was just a servant, nothing more. “As it should. She’s spreading the energy trapped in your core to make you more suitable than you were before.”

“I wasn’t already? How can that be? If I was chosen, how could I not be ‘good enough’?” Ray was spitting. He already was predetermined for a fate he didn’t want. He was considered ‘the chosen one’ and yet he somehow wasn’t enough. What kind of shit was that?

“No. No. You mustn't think like that. You were chosen because you had the ability to become what is needed. You have the Moon Mark, and only those that bear it can have the energy to release.”

Ray touched his chest. On his darker skin, the bright white circle all but glowed on his chest. It was the mark that determined the course of his life since he was born. And now, twenty four years later, he was going to fulfill his destiny.

To be a sacrifice.

That’s how their village worked. That’s actually how all the population of their earth worked. Every village, every territory was guarded by a God, Spirit, or Deity of unimaginable power. They kept the water flowing, the harvests bountiful, the technology in check, and the people happy and well protected. That was the purpose of the Gods. Every God had their strengths and weaknesses. In the village Ray belonged to, their strength was in their defensive barriers that were magically made. But the weakness was in their own technological development. The barrier prevented certain kinds of trade, and because most technology could be weaponized, they were therefore not allowed through the barrier.

The price they paid for the barrier was quite small for the reward they were given. One human sacrifice. The time between sacrifices was never predictable though, and Ray was the first sacrifice in nearly two hundred years. Lucky for them, Rotasha had lived long enough to carry on the tradition. So yes, she was over two hundred years old, but she had more grace and fluidity than any of the young women of the village.

Rotasha hummed and chanted more as her hands wandered to Ray’s spine, running her fingers up and down and back up to the base of his skull. Ray’d never had anyone touch him so intimately, and he really expected to be creeped out. But her hands were calm, and as a result, so was he. With the energy flowing inside him, he felt like he could melt into the small stone hole of a bath.

“Tomorrow morning, right?” He asked to no one in particular.

The servant was the one to answer, “Before the sun graces the horizon, that is correct.”

Rotasha ended her chanting with her hands on the top of Ray’s head. “You’ll be standing on the cliffside, where our god will descend from his heavens and receive you. He’s a most glorious being.” She smiled as the memory surfaced in her mind. It was as clear to her as the day she experienced it. “For us, he’s chosen a human appearance, but his beauty is unparalleled.”

Ray chuckled as the old woman nearly began to cry. “That beautiful, huh? Glad to know I’m not going to get murdered by a tentacle monster.”

Rotasha slapped him upside his black-haired head. “Respect our god, Joeleus.”

“Sorry ma’am” Ray mumbled as he rubbed the side of his skull.

“At least we don’t have to leave a pile of corpses at the top of a hill and set ablaze with a certain kind of fragrant oil like the next village over.”

Ray would have had goosebumps if it weren’t for the warm water he was soaking in. “Yeah. That’s true. And technically, you guys don’t have to kill me either. I just kinda go with him, right?”

Rotasha nodded, “That’s right. What happens after that… well, we aren’t sure, but no one has ever come back.”

Ray sighed heavily. It was difficult accepting that he was going to leave his village behind. His parents had been crying all week, and today they couldn’t even look at him. Ray didn’t blame them. It was their way of saving what was left of their emotions. Ray was their only child, and he wondered if maybe they should have had another one to love after he left. But maybe that would be too cruel, to know that they had a ‘replacement’ kid.

“May I get out now, Rotasha?”

The elder woman looked him over a few times before nodding, her grey hair shaking. “Yes. You may. I believe your room is prepared for the night. The incense is burning already, so sleep should come soon. We don’t want you tired for your big day.”

Ray stood from the bath, water practically sparkling off his body. Thank god neither women in the room were looking at him. The servant gave him a towel and led him to his room for the night.

It was a simple plain room with a singular open window. A wooden stool sat in the corner, while a bed with white sheets rested against the wall. Next to the bed was a nightstand that had a incense burner going. The scent was dark, and strangely enough, reminded him of blackberries. Not the smell of blackberries, but the act of eating them. It was strange, but so many things were at this point. The room was meant to relax and keep any outside influences gone. No one to interrupt his thoughts or give him second opinions.

Although as he relaxed into the mattress, all he did was think. Knowing this was his last night here, and the first time he was alone all damn day made the thoughts swirl. The memories started from the beginning, the first one about his situation he could remember. How when he went to school, none of the other kids would go near him. Their parents told him he was special, that he was different-- not bad but different. He was the only one with the moon on his chest. The only kid that would glow when upset. Of course the kids would avoid him. As he got older, the kids his age were more willing to get close, but they wouldn’t attach, now understanding his fate. Why get attached to something that’s going to die earlier than it should? Ray never blamed them.

While he was avoided by the other children, the adults had constantly swarmed him. When other kids left school, he had to stay behind and learn to understand the role he had to play. How he was the chosen child. The one meant to give themselves up for the good of everyone else. Ray chuckled as he remembered thinking it was stupid and pitching a fit for days.

Ray was the Moon Child. That’s what they called him. Why the Moon? Because he was supposed to be the opposite of their God, who shined as bright as the Sun itself.

Why would a God create his opposite? What was he looking for?

Ray was never able to figure out the answer to that question. Tomorrow he’d find out, he’d ask before he was taken away forever.

Sleep tugged at his eyelids and soon shut down his brain.

\--

Limbs heavy with sleep, he was nudged awake by old lady Rotasha. He could barely move on his own, but the old lady managed to usher him through the various rooms to one that was covered in fabric. Hands were all over his body, and he couldn’t even fight them off. A toothbrush was shoved in his mouth, a comb shoved through his hair, and a washcloth wiped down his body. He felt like a doll getting dressed up for a tea party. In a sense, that’s all he was. A puppet ready to put on a one-time show.

And like that doll, he was being dressed. A dark scarlet cloth was being wrapped around his body. Thin yet heavy, it was a fabric he’d never even worn before. The neck hung incredibly low, far enough that the moon on his chest was perfectly visible. And all the excess was tied to his left side and knotted like a flower. Skin-tight black pants were slid up his legs. They gave him muscles he didn’t even know he had. His wrists were adorned in black rubber bands. One last swatch of fabric was tied around his neck. Two long ribbons hung from the knot in the back. Ray was told that he wasn’t allowed to wear shoes.

The bit that came after was the weirdest part. He’d never been painted, but now he was covered in marks of white, with a line going the length of each arm. Dots and swirls meticulously placed on his arms, neck, and most importantly his face. He was the Moon and the stars and he had to look like it.

When finished, Rotasha was the one to lead him out of the building. When the doors opened, he was was greeted with the sight of everyone in the village lined up in two rows facing each other. No one cheered, no one looked at Ray, but they all knew he was there. They were waiting for him to make the sacrifice of his life for the good of everyone else. For their survival.

He passed people he knew and people he never even recognized before as he made his way to the ceremonial grounds. The grounds themselves were a single peak above a nearly bottomless gorge. The sky met the ground here in a perfect flat horizon. It was here that the Sun rose and kissed the ground with its lips of light. It was here that the light wouldn’t mean something positive. It was here --today-- where the Sun would mean darkness.

When the sky started turning from its blankets of purple into it’s lighter ocean hues, Ray wanted nothing more than to kneel on the ground and cry. His heart ached for everything. He almost wished that they would stab him in the back and throw him into the river miles below. Despite the pain in his heart, he stood strong.

He remained standing even as the first glimpse of the Sun cracked above the horizon. It was brighter than anything he’d ever seen before. Beams of light exploded over the sky and covered everyone and everything. It wasn’t just a warm yellow, it was a harsh burning white. Ray slammed his eyes shut, the light far too painful for his eyes. The moon on his chest began to burn with energy and he clutched to it, trying to make it stop.

Ray wanted everything to stop.

And just as he felt that wish rise in his brain, everything went dark. Not pitch black, but rather the regular light of the day. Sensing the change, he relaxed and opened his eyes.

He was met with a sight more brilliant than the Sun.

A man stood before him, strange considering there was no ground beneath him. On second glance, it appeared he was floating. The man was only a little taller than Ray, but his presence felt so much larger. As if he was the world and more. He had a muscular build, but he wasn’t too ridiculous in terms of muscle mass. He looked just fight for the size of his body. Even covered in ornate gold armor, he didn’t look too outlandish. His jaw was square and tough, but peppered with tiny little goatee hairs. His nose was thin, his cheeks angular, his lips far from puffy. But the most amazing thing about the God was his eyes. They were a melted caramel color, and they pulled Ray in. This man could only be Joeleus.

“My Moon. I’ve waited for this day.” He said fondly. His voice was gentle, and soft enough that it felt like a blanket.

Ray didn’t know what to say. Hello? No, that was stupid.

Joeleus didn’t seem bothered by the lack of Ray’s speech. “You’re more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. When I felt your life spark into this world, I knew… I knew that you would be my perfect Moon.”

Before, Ray didn’t know what to say because they didn’t tell him what to say. He was half expecting Joeleus to puff out his chest and be like ‘HURRAH, THIS BE MY TREASURE’ or something ridiculous like that and then whisk him away to the Gods know where. Now Ray was honestly stunned into silence. He had never expected to be so fondly complimented.

Maybe the surprise showed on Ray’s face, because Joeleus blushed. “I-- Uh. I’m sorry about that. I just spit my words out without thinking.”

“Uh…” Ray managed to make a sound come out of his throat, “I.. hardly think you need to apologize for anything. You are our God after all.”

Joel chuckled, showing off his perfect teeth, “I suppose that is true. I just hardly know how to do this sacrifice thing anymore. It’s been awhile.”

There’s the thought that you should fear your God. That he is a being that you are only to respect and speak to at a distance. Yet, the way Joeleus was speaking to Ray made him feel at ease. Like they were equals, and not a human and a God. Ray raised his eyebrows and took a chance at being himself.

“Oh really? And here I thought 200 years was just a passing moment of time for immortal Gods?” He said.

Joeleus let out a bark of laughter, “You know, if you come with me you’ll get to find out just how time works for a God.”

“If?” Ray asked, “You’re making it sound like a choice.”

“It is.” Joeleus said seriously.

“What?” Ray gasped, “I.. what?”

“I’m… I can’t just take people anymore. That was something I learned with my last Moon. But I suppose, you’ve been raised to be my Moon. You didn’t live as my last one did. Your life was different from his, and always will be. He lived as a human, came with me as a human, and died as a human does. You, on the other hand, will become a God at my side, and it will be your choice entirely. I’ve watched you since you were born, I know who you are now, but I still want to get to know you. I want you to know who I am. I want to spend eternity with you. But it has to be your choice.” Joeleus spoke passionately, with a hand on his chest and a slight begging to his voice. His words were spilling with history he wanted to share and a love he had to offer.

Joeleus reached out his hand. “All you have to do is take my hand, and that will be your answer.”

Ray stared at the hand. It shined with the backdrop of the Sun. Throughout this life, he was taught that his future was dark. That there was no real hope for his own life, but that he was bringing hope for his people, and that was the only thing he should consider. His own happiness wasn’t a thing. Sacrifice one for the good of the world, or at least his home in this case. Yet, shining brightly was a new life ahead of him. One that had hope.

Ray reached out and took Joeleus’ hand.

Joeleus kissed Ray’s hand.

“Thank you so much, my Moon.”


End file.
